Communications systems to handle different types of communications such as for example, telephone calls, e-mail messages, voice-mail messages, facsimile messages and Internet messages are known. These communications system include a number of separate applications, each of which is responsible for handling one type of communication. Most applications provide status information to each user of the communications system to allow each user to determine the number of outstanding incoming communications that have been received. For example, e-mail applications inform each user of the number of unread messages in the user's in-box. Voice-mail applications usually inform a caller of the number of new and saved messages in the caller's in-box. Similar situations exist with other applications. Therefore, in order for a user, who has access to multiple applications, to determine the overall status of their incoming communications, the user must access each application separately. This is an onerous and time consuming task.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel communications system wherein information concerning different types of incoming communications directed to a user of the communications system can be amalgamated and presented to the user in a three-dimensional view.